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Docking computer woes in the last Elite: Dangerous update

Anyone playing Elite: Dangerous (version 2.1.03) right now who are fans of automated docking with stations are probably getting a little frustrated right now as it seems many are finding that the docking computers are no longer able to land craft but rather park them off to the side of the landing pad, hovering meters off the surface.

A temporary solution might be available though which was discussed here in the Steam forums. Apparently if you turn off Auto Rotation Correction (in the right hand panel (Systems) under functions) before you begin the docking process it will let you land. However this option gets reset every time you jump so you’ll need to switch it back off again every time you want to dock again in a new system.

I’ve tried this one out but I had no luck and was left in the same situation as before; the lack of rotation correction can make things really difficult to get out of if the station starts spinning underneath you. Congratulations if it works for you but if things go wrong you might end up smashing against a few space station size obstacles as you try to recover.

An alternative though is to let the ship get as close to the landing pad as possible then quickly turn off the Standard Docking Computer Module (also via the Systems panel) before easing the ship in manually with thrusters. Just remember that before you can use it again you’ll need to switch it back on again before your next trip.

If you’re willing to use thrusters at the point of landing, this will work; I was able to land first time with no issues on the Xbox One. Switching to the alternate control scheme that replaces yaw movement (on a controller’s right stick) with lateral movement will help make this even easier.

These are not ideal fixes but it may save some time between messing with the controls after missing the landing pad for the umpteenth time and lets players still land their craft. Frontier is aware of the issue but no indication has been made yet on when it will be fixed.

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This is a pretty bad bug. I tend to manually dock these days anyway but for those starting out and needing the pressure of not having to land it is pretty poor. Let’s hope Frontier sorts this one quickly.